“It takes 20 seconds and in these seconds you can banish the spread of death.” The epidemiologist Didier spits himself about hand hygiene. Five to eight million human lives a year save hand hygiene worldwide, and were based on “conservative estimates”. Pittet teaches at the Geneva University Clinics. He regularly advises institutions such as the World Health Organization and the French presidential office. On June 26, 2025, the medical professor gave a lecture on the international Hagleitner hygiene forum in Zell am See (Austria). Pitt, among other things, has tips for everyday life on how hand hygiene works and what to consider when traveling. The following interview appears in advance. It also deals with global challenges: Putty of infection should work sustainably, pits “climate resilience”-that is what the bid of the hour is.
Interview with Didier pits
How much human life saves hand hygiene every year? Do you dare to estimate? Suppose, hand hygiene happens consistently and anywhere in the world: what potential arises?
Pittet: Hand hygiene saves life: millions. According to WHO and our experience, hand hygiene can avert up to 50 percent of hospital infections. These infections are responsible for millions of deaths every year, especially in countries with low and medium income. Conservative global estimates say: Every year, five to eight million lives are saved by effective hand hygiene.
The potential is much greater. If every health facility in the world were implemented as a basis on site, millions of further life could be saved annually – especially by mothers, newborns and seriously ill patients. This basis is often still missing in low -income areas of the world – at least half of the facilities. As I said a few years ago: “Handhygiene lasts 20 seconds and in these seconds you can capture the spread of death.”
How does hand hygiene work properly? Are there any mandatory standards in healthcare? What exactly do I have to do if I visit someone in the hospital?
Pittet: The gold standard for hand hygiene in healthcare is alcohol -based hand disinfection. It is fast, effective and significantly more effective than soap and water against most germs – including those who cause fatal hospital infections. “My five moments of hand hygiene” is the name of the framework of the World Health Organization; It is the internationally recognized standard that is used in hospitals worldwide. This defines exactly when medical staff and visitors should practice hand hygiene to protect patients and themselves.
It is simple for visitors, but crucial: rub your hands with alcohol -based disinfectants before you have contact with the patient and when you leave the room. This point in time is crucial to prevent the following from preventing germs into the patient’s surroundings or spreading from there. Soap and water are only needed if the hands are visibly dirty. Anyone who keeps this basic routine as a visitor becomes part of the security system – and helps to solve the problem.
Should people also take hands more seriously privately – for example when traveling? Is it enough privately to wash your hands? Or are there just as much situations in which disinfection nottut expressly?
Pittet: Yes, in private life it is just as serious to take hand hygiene – especially when traveling, in busy locations and in the event of outbreaks of infection. Soap and water remain the standard for home to wash your hands regularly (especially before eating and after the toilet). At the same time, it is advisable to use alcohol -based disinfectants in many situations – if there is a lack of access to clean water, for example, in public transport or at airports.
The WHO and health experts actually advise you to carry a disinfectant on the way; Alcohol -based hand disinfection is expressly stimulated in certain contexts: before you touch your face, after contacting with shared surfaces (such as door handles, touchscre or money) and especially in nursing at home.
In short: soap and water are usually sufficient at home, but the alcohol -based hand disinfectant is on the way your best protection.
Back to healthcare: What are the biggest challenges at the moment to protect against infections? What can get better? What is your appeal? Is this appeal for every area or are there differences, for example between Central Europe and the rest of the world?
Pittet: One of the most important challenges in infection prevention is to consistently implement basic measures such as hand hygiene everywhere-from high-tech hospitals in Europe to poorly supplied clinics around the world. The instruments exist, evidence is available. Nevertheless, gaps in terms of training, personnel, infrastructure and employee management often undermine the progress. According to the WHO data, it is absorbed in almost every second health facility with hand hygiene.
In Central Europe, compliance and culture are often the topic, but in low -income areas, on the other hand, it is more about access and resources. My appeal? We firmly anchor infection prevention and infection control in the institutions and we also prioritize both there – with the right employee management, the right investments and the right sense of responsibility at all levels. Because every patient deserves everywhere to be safe – and avoidable infections should never happen.
The climate crisis is globally one of the greatest tasks of our time. Does she also influence the number of infection? Do new risks develop? What do you need to pay attention to? What does the healthcare system have to prepare against?
Pittet: Yes, the climate crisis is already re -shaping the global landscape in the infection. Rising temperatures, extreme weather events and changing ecosystems expand the spread of diseases, which are transmitted by vectors (for example by mosquitoes, ticks and fleas, note of the editorial team). Dengue fever, malaria and chikungunyafieber are part of such diseases; You can reach new regions – including parts of Europe. Floods and droughts also affect sanitary care and access to clean water. This in turn increases the risk of infections that are transmitted by water. In addition, there is the risk of antimicrobial resistance – as well as the risk of diseases in vulnerable groups of people break out.
What should we prepare for? To a world in which diseases break out more frequently. In a world in which outbreaks are less predictable and more difficult to control. This applies especially to regions with a weak health system. Infection prevention must now include climate resilience: better surveillance, fast reaction, a solid water and hygiene infrastructure and health care that remains adaptable. The message is: If you want to combat infections in the age of climate change, you have to think beyond microbes – and prepare for the storms that you transfer.
International Hagleitner-Hygieneforum 2025
This specialist congress is considered a platform for hygiene and disinfection experts, doctors and nurses; Together they illuminate an outstanding health issue per appointment. The symposium has been taking place since 2017, and every year it is a fixed program item in Zell am See (Austria). The international Hagleitner hygiene forum is aimed at the entire healthcare system: acute, labor and preventive medicine, rehabilitation and long-term care.
Datum: June 26, 2025, 11:30 a.m. – June 27, 2025, 1:00 p.m.
Art: Conferences and conferences
Ort: Hagleitner Academy
Lunastraße 5
5700 Zell am See
Austria
URL: https://lp.hagleitner.com/de-at/8-ihhf